Tempeh Kecap in Clay Pot

Gerla de Boer Tempeh

Earlier this year I visited Singapore and Malaysia and since then I have been craving tempeh kecap. Having moved away from the Netherlands, I miss some of my favourite food. Indonesian cuisine is one of them, especially their feast, which is known as ‘de rijsttafel’ in the Netherlands. A large selection of dishes is served, including rendang, sate and Tempeh Manis, which is a fried sweet soya sauce dish.

Tempeh Kecap

To still my cravings for this sweet and spicy dish, I decided to create my version using a clay pot. Slow cooking the Tempeh Kecap instead of deep-frying the tempeh. Cooking in a clay pot is easy, and you can create delicious dishes. Don’t be tempted to lift the lid during cooking as you want to keep the steam in the pot. The little bit of steam released through the small hole in the top is just enough to make perfect fluffy rice or that lovely sticky protein dish.

Clay pot cooking

I bought my clay pot in a local Chinese shop, but it is available online too. Before using it for the first time, you have to cure it. It is meant for slow cooking so on low heat. The clay pot will crack if you expose to high heat.

The perfect brown rice

One of my favourite ways using the clay pot is for cooking brown rice ( 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water), and sticky salmon or chicken finished off for 10 minutes on top of rice. Using the clay pot will create a nice crunch on the rice. Due to the size of the clay pot, you only can cook small portions. One clay pot serves two.

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Gerla de Boer Vegan recipe

Tempeh Kecap in Clay Pot

  • Author: Gerla de Boer
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 40
  • Yield: 2 1x
  • Category: main course
  • Method: Clay pot
  • Cuisine: Indonesian
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

One of my favourite ways using the clay pot is for cooking brown rice ( 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water), and sticky salmon or chicken finished off for 10 minutes on top of rice. Using the clay pot will create a nice crunch on the rice. Due to the size of the clay pot, you only can cook small portions. One clay pot serves two.

 


Ingredients

Scale

For the marinade

  • 2 ts caster sugar
  • 4 tbsp light soya sauce or tamari
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch

Ingredients 

  • 2 finger aubergines
  • 4 dried Chinese Shiitake mushrooms
  • 225 Tempeh
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 10 fresh root ginger, finely chopped
  • 6 tbsp sweet soya sauce (Kecap)
  • 1.5 light soya sauce or tamari
  • 1 cup of white rice

Bird’s eye chilli dip 

  • 4 Bird’s eye chillies finely chopped
  • 1.5 tbsp light soya sauce
  • 0.5 tbsp sweet soya sauce (Kecap)

Instructions

  1. Soak the Shiitake in hot water for approx. 1 hour ( keep the water)
  2. Cut the aubergine in half and then cut each half in 4 or 5 slices
  3. Make slices of the tempeh -approx. 2 cm by 0.5 cm
  4. Cut the Shiitake into thick slices of approx. 0.5 cm each
  5. Put the aubergine and the tempeh in the marinade for 20 minutes, make sure everything is well covered.
  6. Fry the aubergine, tempeh and the Shitaki in the oil until slightly brown. Be careful not to break the tempeh.
  7. Mix the soya sauce and the Kecap
  8. Put all the ingredients in the clay pot, add the soya sauce and the Kecap mixture. Cover all the ingredients, making sure that you don’t break the tempeh.
  9. Top it up to the rim with the soaking water of the Shiitake, bring it to the boil and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until it is sweet and sticky. The sauce still has to be liquid.
  10. Add the rice to the other clay pot and 2 cups of water. ( some people like to wash the rice, I hardly do this as I only use Tilda rice)
  11. Bring the rice to the boil and turn it down to the lowest heat. After 10 minutes, it should be ready. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes.
  12. Both dishes should be finished almost at the same time.
  13. While both dishes are cooking, prepare the dip. I like it a bit sweeter so add a bit of Kecap.

This dish is for 2, but it serves more if you make it part of an Asian feast.

Bon appetite!

 


Notes

Don’t worry if you don’t have a clay pot. You can use a regular pot, but it is best if it has a small hole in the lid.

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